As I’m sure you’ve all heard, the Chainsmokers are coming to town. And just like Santa Claus they will be bearing gifts, mainly: the gift of music. This week, on Wednesday the 30th, the Chainsmokers will be taking over Slo-town to shake the wall’s of Cal Poly’s recreation center. If you were fortunate enough to score a ticket, get ready for an electrified kind of night, because you made this happen.
The Chainsmokers' choice to make an appearance on Cal Poly’s campus was due to the student body. However, even though it was the student’s devotion to the Chainsmokers that allowed for this to happen, it couldn't have occurred without a little help. The helping hand that made this all possible is the fast-growing app known as Tilt. If you don’t already have it on your home screen, give it a download, because the app is super useful for college students. Tilt helps groups collect money -- whether it be for renting a house for Coachella, paying utilities and rent, or raising funds for philanthropies, Tilt ensures efficiency when dealing with groups. You may be wondering, what did Tilt do to bring the Chainsmokers to Cal Poly?
It all started out with the Chainsmokers’ desire to play for a fan-based audience, an audience in which they felt the passion exuded from the crowd, an audience dedicated to their artistry, an audience much like Cal Poly’s students. Tilt offered them a way to make that happen. Tilt was able to organize a competition that stretched across the nation that could insure the Chainsmokers would be performing for only the truest of fans. The contest was as follows: the first six cities to pre-sell at least 800 tickets using the Tilt app would be included in the Chainsmokers tour. Cal Poly was able to do just that. In fact, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s student body sold more than 4,800 tickets in under two hours, proving their dedication to the Chainsmokers and thus becoming worthy of their performance. This was truly a revolutionary moment. I have found that often students feel as if they have little power in making immense things happen, however this competition gave us, the students, the power to make something substantial occur.
This isn't the first time that a student body has rallied together to make something happen. At San Diego state a student was able to gather his community together to bring G-Eazy to their campus. With the help of his peers he was able to raise the necessary funds using Tilt to pay for G-Eazy’s artist fee. Once G-Eazy got word of these student’s efforts he promised to come play for them if they were able to sell at least 600 tickets. San Diego State’s student body ended up selling 1200 tickets and G-Eazy took SDSU’s stage the following month. It is astonishing what we as students can accomplish when we all band together.
I believe that we owe the Chainsmokers and Tilt a huge thank you for giving us the opportunity to make something happen. And as for Tilt’s involvement with future tours, that is entirely up to us.